Press Releases
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 31, 2004
Last Minute Sneak Ads by 'Yes On 72' are Intended to Trick Voters
Ads are Condemned By Broad Based Opponents of Special Interest Measure
(SACRAMENTO) -- The backers of Proposition 72, the $7 billion tax on workers and businesses to fund a government run healthcare system, have snuck at least two television commercials onto airwaves in a last minute attempt to trick voters into backing the costly and flawed measure, charged Californians Against Government Run Health Care (CAGRH), the broad based campaign opposing Prop 72.
"The big unions behind Prop 72 are trying to trick voters into supporting the measure with the patently false claim that without 72 employers will force employees to go to taxpayer funded emergency rooms for care," said Jot Condie, President and CEO of the California Restaurant Association and co-chair of CAGRH. "They know this claim cannot withstand scrutiny, which is why they have snuck the ads on the air in the final weekend of the election. They are hoping the media doesn't have time to write articles critical of the ads. Unlike their other TV ads, they put these on the air with no media fanfare and without putting them on their web site, hoping they go unchallenged. These ads are their Halloween trick for the media and voters."
At least two new television ads began running during this final weekend of the campaign. Neither were presented to the media beforehand. One ad says that opponents of Prop 72 "want you to keep paying to cover their employees" and that Prop 72 is necessary so their workers "don't wind up in taxpayer funded emergency rooms." Another ad claims that corporations are "forcing employees to go to taxpayer funded emergency rooms for care."
"The vast majority of California companies, including 99 percent of large companies, already provide health insurance for their workers," said Allan Zaremberg, President and CEO of the California Chamber of Commerce and co-chair of CAGRH. "To say companies are forcing their workers to go to emergency rooms for care is an outrageous falsehood. The unions are trying to get voters to support a measure that affects millions of small and medium businesses and their workers by lying about what the measure will do. Make no mistake, Prop 72 imposes a $7 billion tax on workers and employers to fund a government run health care system. It is opposed by every major newspaper in California as well as Governor Schwarzenegger and a coalition of thousand of groups and individuals."
The commercials also came under attack by leaders in the physician community for suggesting that physicians are greedy and care more about the insurance coverage a patient carries than their medical condition. In one ad, a woman says, "when you call a doctor the first thing they ask you is what insurance you have. They don't ask you what the problem is. They want to know how you're going to pay."
James Knight, M.D., former president of the San Diego County Medical Society, said, "This ad is an insult to the tens of thousands of hard working physicians across California who devote their lives to caring for sick people. The California Medical Association (CMA) should immediately denounce this ad and demand it be removed from the airwaves. It shows how the unions have cynically used physicians, first cozying up to the CMA to get credibility for their proposal that they otherwise would never have enjoyed, and now showing their true colors by insulting physicians across California as being a cause of the healthcare crisis."
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Proposition 72 is opposed by hundreds of California employers, local governments, non-profits, community/civic groups, law enforcement, education leaders, medical groups, in addition to Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and nearly ever major California newspaper. For a full coalition list, please visit www.noprop72.org.
CONTACT:
Jessica Spitz, Porter Novelli
916.443.3354
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